There is no running away from terror these days. Nor is there any respite from the paranoia and prejudices it leaves in its wake. Mumbai Meri Jaan is less about the serial blasts of 7/11 than it is about the city’s limp to normalcy in it’s aftermath.
The story follows five Mumbaikars’ lives - a TV journalist (Soha) of a sensation-hungry news channel, a tea vendor Thomas (Irrfan) living outside the peripheral vision of the upwardly mobile, Nikhil (R Madhavan) a corporate with a social conscience, a small-time businessman Suresh (K K Menon) heavily biased against Muslims and a seasoned constable Tukaram Patil (Paresh Rawal) who mentors a frustrated rookie on how to survive in the police force.
It is impossible for the audience not to be swept into the pathos of every story as the movie relentlessly examines the city’s good, bad and resilient. In each character lies a tiny shard of fragmented mirror, which reflects our own pettiness and follies - be it Madhavan’s loudly-proclaimed, proudly-held principles crumbling down in the face of threat, or in Irrfan’s hurt at the bourgeoisie’s non-inclusiveness.
The movies pulses along at an even pace as irony rips apart beliefs, faster than any bomb. Paresh Rawal’s practiced complacency in the eye of injustice is shaken by the earnest fervour of his colleague, while Soha finds out what it’s like on the other side of a voyeuristic camera. There is both craftiness and sensitivity in K K’s role as a Hindu fanatic whose obsession turns dangerous. But it also in his storyline that the movie falls short of becoming the Indian Crash.
Prejudices exists in every community and every community finds itself at the receiving end of stereotyping at some point. Hence the director’s over-enthusiastic painting of minorities as victims of misunderstanding rings of hyperbole; not because it isn’t true but because it is not balanced by any counter mistrust.
Whether intended or otherwise, it’s in Paresh Rawal’s Patil that one sees the heart-wrenching face of Mumbai; a cynical city which has learnt to lace its grief with humour.
An honest portrayal of the times we live in. Perfect casting, brilliant direction and stellar performances by all - a must-watch!
